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Monday, 30 May 2016

Captain America: Man Out of Time Review (Mark Waid, Jorge Molina)

After being frozen during the closing days of WW2, Captain America/Steve Rogers was originally defrosted in the early ‘60s; in Captain America: Man Out of Time, Mark Waid and Jorge Molina reimagine his origin, defrosting Cap in the 21st century - with mixed results. The whole thing feels ironically anachronistic given that the setting is roughly the Obama presidency (no exact year is specified and we never clearly see the President though Obama’s on the cover) but it’s like Silver Age Marvel with people still believing Iron Man is Tony Stark’s bodyguard. It’s a very awkward fit.

And if it is set around 2010, why’s Cap listening to Radiohead’s 2000 album Kid A on a CD player to make it seem like he’s embracing contemporary culture - shouldn’t he be listening to Florence and the Machine/Bruno Mars/any more recent record on his Smartphone to better symbolise this instead? Feels like Waid/Molina are stuck in the past like Cap!

It’s not the most exciting read but it’s got the feels as Cap catches up on the last 60+ years’ achievements and tragedies, as well as coming to terms that everyone he knew is either very old or dead. I liked the character General Jacob Simon as a nod to Cap’s real world creators, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (Kirby’s real name was Jacob Kurtzberg). Jorge Molina’s art was fine and the 1940s wartime sequence was good too.

Otherwise, Captain America: Man Out of Time is an ok-ish retread of Cap’s origin with some moving moments that ultimately nobody really needed to see an updated version of.